Tag Archives: maklike sop resep

On one of those balmy, yet Cape wintery type days my husband and I were invited to lunch at some lovely friends of ours in their beautifully renovated old family home. It was one of those blissful afternoons spent cooking, sharing and laughing in the kitchen in between glasses of champagne. Whilst my friend and I nattered about this and that, the men drank beer, talked rugby and entertained the young kids as they excitedly ran in and out the house, chasing rugby balls, soccer balls and even the resident rooster. You know it was one of those special few hours where you completely forget about the troubles and stresses of the week, the chores or the unfinished laundry back at home. It was just one of those perfect afternoons.

Back in the kitchen, my friend made this amazing dish of ham hock, beans, chorizo and tomatoes – her husband was quick to say that despite his wife’s considerable resume of cooking qualifications and accomplishments that it was actually his dish – yes he claimed it! I was duly informed that there was no actual recipe and they just throw things together– it was thick and rich and perfect with a piece of bread at the bottom. This is my type of cooking. This is cooking at its best – it’s slow, it’s full of flavour and full of love.

Most of the time, I too cook without recipes but being a blogger I have since forced myself into the discipline of writing everything down. So here you go – this is my version of this splendid ham hock soup pot – it is so delish and so nurturing and perfect for a cold winter’s night. To make matters and preparation simple I decided to use three ingredients of everything – and it worked out perfectly. You need about 4 hours for this so it may be a good idea to make it the day before.

There is also no doubt that this soup needs to be prepared with love and working your way through a few glasses of good red wine, swapping stories and spending some carefree idle hours in the company of good friends.

Fry the onions, carrots, celery and garlic over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Then add all the other ingredients except the beans + chorizo + oats and simmer for 3 hours.

After 3 hours add the beans, chorizo and oats and simmer for another hour.

Take the hock out – shred the meat and discard the skin and fat. Throw the meat back in the soup and serve piping hot with a delicious gremolate and some chopped chillies. Oh, yes and some chunky freshly baked bread.

Vegetable Soup – A couple of weeks back I invited a few foodie friends over to watch the finale of Mastechef SA, as it was winter I thought it would be appropriate to put on a large pot of my vegetable soup for the occasion. It went down a treat; the problem came about when they all asked me to share the recipe. This proved to be quite difficult as I don’t have a recipe for this soup. The way it works in my house is that I make soup on Sundays. I open the fridge, take out all the veggies + herbs that I did not use over the previous week and make a steaming pot of soup with it. So…to be frank, the recipe below is a list of all the items leftover in my fridge from last week…

If you think the recipe seems a bit long, do not be put off, once you get the hang of it and taste of it you will be making this soup for generations to come. The thing about soup is, you have to make it your own … put in the effort and spend that little extra time…I can promise you it is worth every little spoonful. Enjoy making it and remember to serve it with love.

I do have 10 tips that I have picked up along the way that I would like to share with you when making this soup:

1. Don’t be in a hurry – take your time… and love the process – that is why I normally do it on Sundays – it takes time to grate and chop. Make big bowl of this soup… the soup freezes very well and will never go to waste!
2. Use the veggies + herbs – even lettuce, rocket – whatever you have in your fridge or veggie basket…..the stuff you did not use during the week and want to throw away.
3. Look in your freezer and use all those small packets of frozen veg that you still have not got around to using…
4. The five basic vegetable ingredients that you have to put in to your pot are the following: potatoes, carrots, onions, celery + tomatoes.
5. I always leave the skin on all my vegetables.
6. I grate my vegetables …that is if they are grate-able – it cooks faster and I feel the flavours infuse just that much better.
7. Veggies like broccoli and cauliflower – use the stems – cut them into thin slices – it adds to the beautiful chunkiness of the soup.
8. Parmesan skins – when you buy and use parmesan – don’t throw the skin or rind away – keep them in your freezer and use this in your soup – it adds a wonderful richness.
9. The secret ingredients of my soup : cloves, pesto (any flavour), whole pepper corns, parmesan cheese skins and grated, instant tomato cream soup, oats, good stock to cover the veggies, Worcestershire sauce, sun-dried tomatoes and always a bit of butter.
10. To serve always finish your soup with a drizzle of olive oil , chopped parsley and some parmesan shavings.

This recipe makes a pot of soup large enough to feed an army - you can just half or quarter the quantities as your mood takes you…

Author: Anél Potgieter

Serves: 10

Ingredients

A

300g Grated large potatoes +- 2 large

300g Grated large carrots +- 2 large

220g Grated medium onions +- 2 medium

250g Grated butternut squash +- 2 generously thick slices

350 g Tomatoes either chopped or rosa tomatoes halved

200g Baby marrows - sliced

150g Cauliflower - cut into chunks

130g Broccoli - cut into chunks

2 Long pieces of celery - chopped

70g Lettuce

80g Cucumber - chopped

300g Frozen peas

50g Sundried tomatoes - chopped

10g Fresh coriander - chopped

25g Garlic - grated

6 Cloves

20 Black peppercorns

20g Fresh parsley - chopped

1t Chillie flakes

410g Tinned chopped tomatoes (1 tin)

2 Stock cubes (Vegetable or chicken)

75-100g Parmesan skins

3L Water (or 3L of good stock – then omit the stock cubes and remember to add more salt)

B

100g Dry pasta (I use spaghetti and normally break the spaghetti up into small pieces)

100g Oats

2x 410g Sugar beans (drain the fluid) – you can even replace this with tins of baked beans

60 ml Olive oil

1 Packet cream of tomato soup mixed with 500 ml cold water

C

1T Worcestershire sauce

100g Pesto (any basil or rocket pesto)

100g Parmesan cheese grated

50g Butter

1t Salt

1t Black pepper

Instructions

Put all A ingredients into a large pot and bring to boil. Simmer for 30 minutes on medium heat. Please remember to stir frequently. As this is a big pot of ingredients, it can easily burn if you don't keep a watchful eye on it.

Now add all the B ingredients and simmer for a further 20 minutes.

Then add all the C ingredients – stir well – and simmer for 10 minutes.

At the end please taste for seasoning – adding salt and pepper as per your individual taste or preference.

To serve: Drizzle some olive oil over the soup, add some chopped parsley and some parmesan shavings.